True Greatness

Mark 10:32-45
  32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.  33 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days.”
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
 36 “What do you want me to do for you? ” he asked them.
 37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”
 38 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? ”
 39 “We are able,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. 40 But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
 41 When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 20:17-28; Luke 18:31-34
 
1) GREATNESS EXPECTED

• Isaiah 50:6–7 — The Servant gives His back to those who beat Him, does not hide from shame and spitting, and sets His face like flint.
• Luke 9:51 — Jesus “set his face” to go to Jerusalem.
• John 6:15 — The crowds wanted to make Jesus king.
• Psalm 2:6–9 — God’s King rules over the nations.
• Isaiah 53:3–5 — The Servant is despised, rejected, pierced, and crushed for His people.  

 
2) GREATNESS DISTORTED

• Mark 14:36 — Jesus prays in Gethsemane, “Take this cup from me.” 
• Mark 15:17–20, 26-27 — Jesus is clothed in purple, crowned with thorns, mocked, struck, spit on, crucified as “King of the Jews” between two criminals.
• Mark 9:33–37 — The disciples argued about who was the greatest.
• Genesis 1:26–28 — Humanity made in God’s image to rule.
• James 4:1–3 — Quarrels come from selfish desires at war within us.
• Philippians 2:3–4 — Do nothing from selfish ambition but look to the interests of others.

2) GREATNESS DEFINED

• Daniel 7:13–14 — The Son of Man is given dominion, glory, and an everlasting kingdom. 
• Colossians 1:15 — Christ is “the image of the invisible God.”
• Hebrews 1:3 — Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature.
• Philippians 2:5–11 — Christ humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, died on the cross, and was exalted by God.
• John 13:4–5, 12–17 — Jesus washes His disciples’ feet and calls them to follow His example.
• 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 — God’s power is perfected in weakness.
• Revelation 5:5–6 — Jesus the Lion and the Lamb who was slain.
• John 14:2–3 — Jesus goes to prepare a place for His people.
• Hebrews 7:25 — Jesus always lives to intercede for His people.
• 1 Peter 4:10–11 — Use whatever gifts you have to serve others.
• 1 John 3:16–18 — We know love because Christ laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for others.